Fighting Fire with Fire
by Queen Serenity
Summary: A girl needs Freddy's help... to fight an evil that just may be worse than him...
1. Chapter One

**Queen Serenity: Okay, everyone, please listen. This is my very first Elm Street fic, and I'm sorta scared about writing it… I'm not used to this type, you see. So forgive me if Freddy seems a bit OOC… **

**Anyway, sorry if it sucks. And Freddy won't be in the first chapter, sorry.**

**Also, although this is NOT a Mary Sue, I'll be blunt. Molly is me, though that's not my real name… it's just a substitution for it. The first dream is one I've really had, and the other ones later on, parts of them, are based on ones I've really had.**

**My nightmares were what gave me my idea.**

**Again, sorry if it sucks.**

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**

**Stars: Freddy Krueger, whom we all know; a victimized girl named Molly; an**

**unknown dream demon.**

**Summary: A girl needs Freddy's help… to fight an evil which may just be worse than him.**

**Author: Queen Serenity**

**Disclaimer: Molly belongs to me… she IS me. Any Freddy people don't belong to me. Jireziah doesn't belong to anyone… although it's my dreams he haunted for years. Same with the guy that appears later, Jareh, and the creatures in the dreams, both good and bad. Oh! And also Jessica is mine.**

_**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: One**_

The girl sat there on her bed. She had a blanket wrapped around her, and she was in an upright fetus position, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her back to the wall. Her blue-gray eyes stared blankly ahead, not really seeing, it seemed…

She knew she was dreaming… she knew that 'he' would be here soon… but she didn't bother moving. She'd tried, many times, running from him… but he always caught her… him or his wretched hounds.

She shivered, and wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, bowing her head and closing her eyes, waiting.

"What do you think you're doing?" The silky smooth voice came from beside her, and she jumped, and scooted back into the corner that her bed was in. He sat there on her bed, staring at her, waiting for an answer…

But she wouldn't answer him, not if she could help it; even saying words to him made her feel dirty.

Him: The man, if you could even call him that, that sat there was tall… probably about 6'1'. His jet black hair hung loosely just past his shoulders. His bangs were cut just above the brows, and were split down the middle. His face was princely-looking, with high cheekbones and a define jawline… His skin was lightly tanned, and he was lightly muscled. He wore a pair of black silken pants, tied with a bloodred sash, and a black vest which was worn open, showing off his chest.

But his eyes… his eyes were what would take your focus off anything else. They were green, but not any ordinary green. They were a bright green which seemed to burn… like they were made from green fire… they didn't glow, they burned.

All in all, if the girl was judging by her eyes only, she would have probably been swooning over him. Physically, this man was so hot he was almost god-like… but she didn't judge by what she saw… she judged by what she felt. She could feel the evil, the plain 'wrongness' radiating off of him… that feeling that made her jump in the shower whenever she woke up, just because even being near this… man… made her feel filthy… tainted…

She knew the man as Jireziah, though she never called him that… the strange thing was, he had never given her his name… she just _knew_.

Jireziah spoke. "You really should answer someone when they ask you a question, you know."

When she ignored him further, he grabbed her arm tightly, tight enough to leave a bruise. She didn't even react, and fury shown in his eyes as he reached out with his other arm and grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head up to look at him. "And you should especially answer _me_."

He proceeded to stand, his hand still buried in her mass of curls, and yanked her off of the bed by the hair. Tears of pain sprang to the girl's eyes, but they didn't fall, and she didn't cry out. She didn't want to give him the pleasure of it.

He pulled her to her feet, and whispered in her ear, "So, who shall I kill tonight, hmm, Serenity?" He let go of her, letting her fall back down, and snapped his fingers. In the next instant, they were in her little sister's room. Her little, eight-year-old sister's room. For the first time since the beginning of the dream, the girl spoke, her voice a choked, ragged whisper,

"Don't do this… not to Ashley… not again, please."

Jireziah sneered. "Pleading hasn't done you any good before, Serenity. Why would it do any good now?" He shoved her to fall into a nearby chair, and she was, it seemed, glued in place; no matter how she tried, she couldn't get back up.

He went over and knelt by the little girl's bed, and, in almost a mocking gesture, brushed her brown bangs gently out of her face. "Ashley… Ashley, dear, it's time to wake up." His face was just above the little girl's.

Ashley yawned lightly. "…Huh?" The little girl opened her eyes, but they almost instantly went blank when they saw the twin green fires that were the man's eyes.

Letting an evil smile cross his face, Jireziah pulled the little girl up so that she was sitting up, the blank look still on her face. Pulling a long, thin, but infinitely sharp blade out of nowhere, he looked over at the older girl, who was watching them numbly. He grinned evilly again, showing her perfect white teeth. "Where should I cut her first, Serenity? Her sweet little face, don't you think so?"

Silence was his answer.

He reached over and, almost gently, pressed the blade against Ashley's face, about an inch below her eye. And then, a look coming over his face as though he thought this would be the most pleasurable thing he had ever done, he pressed down and brought the blade down in one swift, vicious motion.

Blood flowed and awareness came back into Ashley's chocolate brown eyes as she let out a scream of pain. Blood flowing, she struggled to get away from the man, starting to sob, but he held her fast. "No, no, stop it, please don't hurt me, Mister, please don't hurt me!" She saw her sister, sitting there, and reached out her free arm towards the elder girl. "Molly! Help me, Molly! Please don't let him hurt me!"

She wailed pitifully, salty tears running down her face to mix in with the wound and cause her even more pain. Her big sister just stared numbly ahead, no indication that she was seeing this except for the tears in her eyes.

Jireziah grabbed the little girl's outstretched arm. "Where next, Serenity? What's that you say? Oh, I know!" He let out a laugh and held the arm down at the wrist. When he brought his knife down to rest above the little girl's pinky, she let out a scream.

"This little piggy went to the market…"

Ashley's pinky was gone, and more blood flowed.

"This little piggy stayed home…"

Another finger was gone.

By the time he got to the third finger, tears were running down Molly's face and Ashley had passed out from the pain.

Finishing with all the fingers on that hand, the grin on Jireziah's face went even wider as he had an idea. Putting his blade on Ashley's face where the wound ended, he proceeded to move it the rest of the way around the little girl's face before carelessly shoving it through her heart. He reached up to rip the face off, and got in front of the older girl, holding Ashley's face in front of his own like a macabre mask, speaking in a realistic mockery of Ashley's voice.

"Molly! Help me, Molly! Please don't let him hurt me!"

The girl spoke again, her tone flat. "It doesn't matter. You can't hurt anyone, not really. Except…"

The man cocked his head at her, giving her a sadistic grin. "Except for one, right, Serenity?"

She nodded numbly, and bowed her head again. Real or not, she couldn't stand looking at her little sister's corpse.

He grabbed her by the chin, and forced her to stare at his eyes. _Oh shit… not again… _Was her last thought before her mind hazed up and she couldn't really think… she was only dimly aware of what was going on.  
She was aware, though, of him pulling her head to rest, almost gently, in his lap. He placed his hands on either sides of her temples, and then…

PAIN! AGONY-SUFFERING-ANGUISH-MISERY-TORTURE-SUFFERING!

Wave after wake of pain ripped through her body as he, as he did every few dreams, flooded her mind with images of people dying, getting tortured, any and all sorts of suffering… what she hated most… flashing before her eyes in wave after wave.

She didn't know how long she was there… it could have been a few seconds, or a few hours, she didn't know.

Next thing she knew, though, she was laying there, the images fading, gasping for breath. A loud sound could be heard, BEEP BEEP BEEP, and Jireziah looked up, hearing it, too. He looked down at her again, eyes burning.

"Time to get up… I'll see you again, Serenity."

Molly woke up and shut off her beeping alarm, sighing. Circles were evident under her eyes, and she looked like she hadn't slept in ages. She rubbed at the new bruise on her arm, sighing. J_areh… where are you? It's been so long… I need your help, my friend…_

**Queen Serenity: Okay, this beginning was very hard to write… it's hard for me to write pain, and it makes me feel dirty… but… I wanted to remain true to my nightmares. You know? Not to mention, I want this to sicken, but to draw in… to make the reader want to know what'll happen next. So, sorry if it didn't come out so well… sorry if the little girl getting cut up traumatized you… but… well… I had to get it out. I had to write it, if you know what I mean. **


	2. Chapter Two

**Queen Serenity: This story is quite possibly the hardest I've ever written… because, as I said, Jireziah is, truly, from the nightmares of my past. What's going to be really hard is him and Freddy fighting… Especially since I don't know much about Jireziah himself, so I may have to make some stuff up. It's going to be fun, though, having Molly interact with Freddy.**

_**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**_

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Two**_

Later that day, after just barely making it through her school day, as usual, Molly was finally home. Finally, she could make her way to her room… and get some well-needed rest.

She leaned against her doorway and looked at her bed for a moment, thinking, and decided against it. She really needed a bath, anyway… and, if she drowned in her sleep, oh well. She just didn't care either way anymore. Everything was just so… so numb. She made her way through each day, but had found over the last year that she was 'feeling' less and less. The other day, when at the park with her father and sister, a young child had fallen off of the slide's stairs, hitting his head. An ambulance had been called, since the kid had been unconscious, and she had found herself watching the scene without any concern… just detachment, as though she weren't even human.

Dropping her backpack on the bed, she turned to leave the room, but caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Herself: She had to admit, she wasn't beautiful… not in her eyes. Perhaps pretty, on her good days, but never beautiful. But usually… she was just average, you know? A pale freckled face which was, in her opinion, slightly too round… like she perhaps needed to drop a couple of pounds.

Her eyes, at least, she knew were pretty. They were usually blue-gray, not an unusual shade of it, but they could change colors. The happier she was, the bluer they got; the sadder she was, the grayer they became… and the more excited or angry she was, the greener they became. Her lips were rather thin, especially her top one, which had a little scar in it from her getting stabbed in the lip with a pen during recess in fourth grade.

Her nose wasn't small, nor was it big… unfortunately, though, her nostrils always flared really big when she got excited, nervous, or embarrassed. Not very fun, I tell you. She was about 5 '3' or 5 '4'. She was really unhappy about her height, always feeling that she was short. Way too short. Very annoying, to have to stare up at everyone when you're talking to them.

Her hair was definitely her most noticeable feature, though. Very curly, and, unless she gelled it, usually frizzy. She put gel or mousse it each night before bed, though, hoping to be sure it would be tame in the morning. It usually helped, and she only had to rearrange a few curls then. It was reddish-gold in color, and the curls were spiral curls which fell to the middle of her back at the longest part. Even when it was all gelled, though, it was usually quite wild-looking, though pretty.

As for her shape… well, let's just say she was curvy. Round hips, and she was rather large on top, a fact which she cursed daily. As for her middle… well, she wasn't skinny, but nor was she fat. She was simply average.

Right now, though, her skin was rather paler than usual, and her eyes didn't have so much of their usual sparkle. Her eyes were ringed, like she hadn't been sleeping, and, looking at them, a person would find themselves wondering how old this girl was, if they didn't know her actual age; she looked so much older than she actually was. Her eyes looked like she had seen more than a girl of her age ever should have seen, like she was aged beyond her years.

She'd grabbed a towel and ran herself a hot bath, and then slipped slowly into the water, letting herself relax. She closed her eyes, thinking.

_Jireziah… _She'd been dreaming of that bastard for five years now. Several times, she'd tried to take control of her dreams, but it hadn't worked. She'd fought him, over and over, in so many ways that it was ridiculous. She could remember… the first time she'd dreamed of him, she'd come into a large fancy-looking church to find her friend, Angela, praying there under an open domed skylight, the light of the full moon shining down on her.

The scene had looked so beautiful and serene that she could not help just standing there, watching…

And then _He'd _come.

Down through the skylight he'd come, with an engraved dagger in his hand. He'd landed near Angela, and the girl hadn't even noticed… but Molly had. He'd then been wearing his pants and sash, but no shirt… She'd seen the man look right at her, and then given an evil grin. He'd raised the sword above her kneeling friend, and Molly had tried to move, to cry out, anything… but… she couldn't move. She couldn't do a thing.

Right then, Angela had raised her eyes, and had noticed Molly. She'd risen to her feet, still not noticing the man, and had raised her hand in greeting, opening her mouth, obviously about to say 'Hi'. Before she even got the word out, though, the man had grinned again at Molly and driven the dagger through Angela's back.

Angela had looked down at the blade sticking out of her chest in shock, and then looked back up at Molly, seeming to ask… 'why?'. And then she'd fallen, dead.

The man had then turned from Molly to remove the blade from the corpse, and she had caught sight of the tattoo on his back. It was of a large green, yellow, and red dragon, black stripes on it, and the dragon seemed almost alive, staring at Molly. She blinked then, and when she looked again, the dragon was looking towards the corpse. She'd notice later that, although she never actually saw it move, the dragon was always shifting positions, like it moved whenever she wasn't looking.

The man had carelessly wiped the blade on Angela's clothes, and put it in a sheath strapped across his back. He'd seen that Molly was still trying to move, and smirked. He moved towards her, and Molly'd tried to move away, but… she still hadn't been able to move.

He'd spoken, and, as soon as he had, she'd somehow known his name. "You shouldn't bother to try, you know, Keeper. You can't protect her, you can't protect anyone… no matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to stop me, Guardian."

Molly had looked confused, but fury had filled her eyes. This was _her _dream… who was he to be in it? "…What? Who are you!"

He'd grinned viciously, showing his too-perfect white teeth. "It doesn't matter. You can't stop me, Serenity."

"Don't call me that! That's not my name!" She'd found she could move once more and had hunched down, rocking back and forth, seeing Angela's corpse again. She had said, over and over, almost like a mantra, "This is just a dream… just a dream… just a dream…"

He'd smirked, and pulled a silver nail out of nowhere, then grabbed her hand. "Just a dream, huh?" He'd pricked her palm rather hard, and she'd suddenly woken up.

She'd been sleeping with her hands under her pillow, and had awakened in a cold sweat. When she'd felt a pain in her hand and pulled it out to look at it, she had found that she was bleeding. Eventually, the small wound had healed, of course, but it had left a little scar there.

The bastard had hurt her since then in so many ways, she couldn't even remember them all. Slowly, she was becoming numb to it all… she'd just started to not care.

Except for the pain…

Relaxing in the tub, she started shaving, but accidentally nicked herself with the razor. It was a rather nasty one, too, the blood seeping out slowly to mix with the water. She pressed lightly on the wound, watching the blood well up lightly around her finger, and a small smile crossed her face at the sensation. Pain, it seemed, was a pleasure to her anymore. It reminded her that she was here, that she was still alive, and not some puppet whose strings can't be pulled. Slowly, she had come to realize that… she actually _enjoyed _the pain.

She had been able to, though, keep Jireziah from realizing this… so far.

She couldn't live with this anymore, though… she had to find some way out. There was one… person… whom had been in her dreams even longer than Jireziah. The one that had been there for as long as she could remember… Jareh. He didn't show up very often anymore, though. It was like he didn't want to cross Jireziah too much.

Done shaving, she lay back in the tub and closed her eyes, letting herself relax bit by bit. It only worked sometimes, but she had to try… She let her consciousness drift, thinking just one thing…

_Jareh…I need your council, my friend… please…_

The girl walked along the beach, the wind blowing her hair, tousling it gently. She kept walking without thinking, and eventually saw a figure in the distance.

Getting closer, she could see that it was him. It was Jareh.

Jareh: He was a man about 6'1', Jireziah's height. His face was long and narrow, and had high cheekbones and a strong chin. An attractive face, to be sure, at least in her opinion. Looking at him, you'd think him to be about mid to late twenties. He had large eyes that were quite old-looking, though… like they held the knowledge and wisdom of a thousand lifetimes that he had already lived, like he'd seen millions upon millions of sunrises and sunsets. They were quite unusual, too… one light blue, one dark blue. They were topped by heavy but well-groomed brows.

His hair was sort of wild looking, looking more like a light blonde mane than hair, and came down to the middle of his back.

Right now, he wore snug light gray pants, and a matching peasant shirt with the top several buttons undone, showing his lightly muscled chest.

He sat on a large pile of rocks, looking out across the horizon, and didn't seem to notice as she walked up. Careful not to slip, she climbed up to the top of the rocks to seat herself beside him, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms loosely around them. He spoke then, his voice quiet but clear:

"You know that I cannot directly help you, Serenity, as much as I would like to… so why do you bother to ask?"

She sighed. "I know, Jareh, I know… I've figured out as much already, and I know you won't tell me why, no matter how much I ask. But… can't you give me some advice, at least?"

He didn't look at her. "Perhaps. Tell me your thoughts, Serenity."

And so she did. "I'm tired… I feel like, as Bilbo Baggins once said, butter scraped over too much bread. I'm becoming numb, and it scares me. I force myself not to react to… him… and what he does, but it's starting to take its toll, I think. And as for physical pain… well, it seems to have become, in a sense, a pleasure for me." Her voice was choked slightly. "I'm starting to scare myself, Jareh. I'm changing, it seems, and not for the better. I just can't deal with this. I won't kill myself, I'm not that stupid… but… I don't care what the alternative is, I need to find a way away from him, or even to stop him."

When Jareh spoke next, his voice was just above a whisper. "Are you completely sure, Serenity?"

Her voice was confused. "…What?"

"That you don't care what the alternative is. That you don't care about the risks."

"Of course I'm sure… why do you ask?"

He seemed reluctant to reply, but did. "I may have a solution for you, then… but… it could be the greater of two evils, I'm not sure. You understand me, do you not? If you choose this path, you may end up in a situation worse than the one you're in now."

She swallowed, and sat there, thinking hard for an unknown period of time, before answering. "I'm sure of my decision, Jareh. I don't care."

"Then you must seek out the one who may be able to stop 'him'… Freddy Krueger." He spat the name, like it was vile on his tongue.

"Freddy Krueger? Who… is that?" She wondered who this could be, with this human-sounding name, that he could maybe help her, but that he could perhaps be even more evil than Jireziah.

"It is better if I show you, rather than tell you. Is that what you want? This… this may seem similar to what 'he' does…"

She was adamant. "Show me. And then tell me what to do."

So he pressed his fingers to her temples and told her, in that way, all about Freddy. But, unlike with Jireziah, she felt no pain when he did it.

And then he pulled away, and he could see in her expression that her mind was made up.

"You might die, Serenity, if you do this. Or perhaps he may do something worse to you…"

She shook her head. "He couldn't do worse than Jireziah. And if I die, so what… at least then I'll finally be free. I'm not afraid."

And so, albeit regretfully, he told her what she would need to do.

A knock at the bathroom door sounded, and, as she faded away, he couldn't help but worry that this would perhaps be the last time that he would see her.

**QS: I would have went into detail of what she saw of Freddy, but if you're reading this you probably know all that you'd need to know. Sorry no actual Freddy entrance yet. Next chapter, though, he will show up. Okay? Geeze, I'm so unsure of this as I go along… but… I'm trying.**


	3. Chapter Three

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Three**_

The next day, when Molly left the house, her mother noticed nothing amiss. Her daughter leaving for school, heavy backpack over her shoulders, purse in her hand, etc. But had she peeked in Molly's room, she would have found the textbooks still on her desk, and if she knew where to look, she would find that Molly's hidden savings were gone.

For Molly wasn't planning to come back until this was resolved, and that would be a few days, at least. She'd given a note to Angela to give to the school for her, seemingly written by Molly's mom, saying she was sick, and she'd left a note for her mom telling her she was staying at Angela's for the weekend, so she wouldn't be missed for a few days hopefully if everything turned out right.

There was this guy, Marcus, a high school dropout who she knew had a car. She went to his house and pounded on his door 'til he answered, glaring at her blearily. "Dude, it's too early for this kind of shit… what the hell d'ya want, bothering me before noon…" He squinted at her for a sec. "…Molly, isn't it? Shouldn't ya be at school, kid?"

She rolled her eyes and plastered a grin on her face. "Cut it out with the 'kid' shit, you're no more than a year older than me… Ya wanna make an easy two hundred bucks, Marcus?"

That woke him up, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What would I have to do?"

She gave him a steady look. "Be my chauffeur for the next few days, all meals and hotel room paid for by yours truly. I gotta get to Springwood, and don't feel like hitchhiking there."

"Springwood? Where's that?" He looked confused.

"Ohio. Will you do it or not?" She crossed her arms, tapping her foot.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me 'bout an hour to get ready." He glanced at her before going back inside. "Come on in, you don't want anyone seeing you out of school, I bet."

And so she followed him in.

A few hours later, as they were driving steadily down the highway, Molly leaned her head against the window, and she let her eyes wander shut.

The girl awoke in the grass in a forest. It was nighttime, and moonlight was streaming down.

Looking down, she found a note in her hands, reading as follows:

_Serenity,_

_The Pack doesn't want you to go in completely unprotected, so they've decided to help. You know what to do._

_Good luck, and be careful._

_-Jareh_

The note disappeared and she started walking through the forest. Finally, when she reached a wide clearing, she stopped.

Going to the center of it, she knelt down, her head bowed for a moment, her eyes closed, and felt a rumble build up deep in her throat. Finally, out of nowhere, she threw back her head and let out an inhuman, deep-throated howl, filling the night with the sound.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer alone. She was surrounded by beautiful wolf-like creatures the size of great danes. Their eyes looked fully human, though, and there was a sort of mane of fur around each of their necks, similar to a lion's, and the ends of their tails were tufted with the same type of fur as their manes. Their claws were sharp and retractable, like a cat's, and were all different colors. The creatures were all different from each other, some with silver fur. Some with black, and even some with brown or white.

And she… she was no longer Molly.

Or Serenity.

She was Crimmane. She was one of them. Although her eyes had remained the same, she now had the same form as them, though slightly smaller. Her own fur was the same color as her hair usually was, except that the mane and tale tip were a bloody red. There was a ring of silver fur around each of her ankles. Her claws were silver and retracted right now. She was now, like them, what she called a _Fantazir Lupe_. A Dream Wolf.

Each of the lupes came up to her in turn and sniffed her or nudged her with their elegant snouts before moving away. She could feel their emotions radiating off of them, and could clearly feel their protectiveness, and worry, for her. For she was one of them. Here, in her dreams, she was one of the Pack.

As the rest of them formed a circle about her, two of them came up to her. Nightsun, with his black fur, gold mane, and green eyes, and Bloodmoon, with his silver fur, silver mane, and red eyes. It was obvious their intent. When she went into the Playground, they would be there as her Guardians… for a little bit, at least. Crimmane nodded her head in ascent, knowing they'd come even if she said no.

Molly was jolted back to the waking world by Marcus shaking her shoulder. She blinked at him. "Huh?"

He squinted. "You okay? You look awful… tired."

She nodded. "I am, but I'm okay. What did you want?"

"I was asking if you minded if we stopped for supper, 'cause there's a rest stop coming up. By my calculations, if we don't stop for the night, we'll reach your destination in about 8 hours, which'll be around 2AM. If I'm gonna keep driving like this, I need some food and coffee first. And anyway, you don't look so good yourself, no offense."

She smiled slightly. "None taken. Alright, let's stop for some Burger King when we see a sign for it. I could use a Chicken Tendercrisp… it sounds good right about now."

When they'd made it to the food joint and sat down with their meals, Marcus looked at her eating, then spoke with his own mouth full. "So, anyway, are you gonna tell me why you're headed for Springwood or what? Running away and got a friend there or something?"

She shook her head. "No, not really. I've just got a serious problem, and I'm hoping the solution'll be in Springwood. Cheer up, though, I'll be spending my money on a decent hotel room… you'll have cable, at least."

"Yeah? Why would I be worried about cable?"

She sighed. "Well, because I think we're gonna be there for a few days, at least." _I'm just glad I saved up so much, _she added silently to herself, knowing she'd be shit-out-of-luck if she'd had no money.

Hours later, they had made it to their destination… Springwood, Ohio. As they passed the sign welcoming them there, Molly turned to Marcus.

"First thing's first. We're finding a motel for you to stay at." Her voice was matter-of-fact as she said this.

He looked surprised at this. "Me? Don't you mean us?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I've already got somewhere else I'm staying…"

"Where?"

"Just somewhere."

He shook his head. "Whatever you say… after all, you're the lady with the money."

They pulled into the first motel they found, a decrepit-looking place that said it had 'cab e' on the sign. She gave Marcus money to check in, then unloaded her backpack from the car.

Hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder, she started to leave, but, thinking better of it, scribbled a hasty note on a scrap of paper from Marcus's car and left it on the windshield.

_M,_

_Whatever you do, don't come looking for me._

_If I don't come back tomorrow at all, I'm not coming back. Sorry. However, I will do my best to come back._

_If you don't see me by midnight, then you need to get the hell out of this town. Just Trust Me._

_- Molly_

Casting another backward glance to the motel with Marcus's car in the parking lot, Molly started walking down the dark street, her gaze resolute.

When she came to a gas station, she went in and bought a map of Springwood, along with a Pepsi, some sleeping pills, and a mini cheese pizza from the warming tray. Sitting out on the curb by the gas station so that she could see in the light, she hungrily gulped down the pizza and stared down at the map she had spread on her lap. After a moment, she located where she was, and then, a few moments later, found where Elm Street was… it looked as though she had a ways to walk. That was fine, though.

Folding the map and slipping it back inside her backpack, she licked the pizza grease from her fingers and took a drink from her Pepsi before setting off.

Half an hour later, she stood in front of it; 1428 Elm Street. A large dingy white rundown-looking house with a red door and several windows, it looked as though it hadn't been lived in for years. Molly didn't doubt it, either, what with the reputation this place had.

Few houses on this street had looked as though there were people living there… the whole street was practically deserted. Selling these houses were probably any real estate agent's 'nightmare', hehe.

Slowly, deliberately, she walked up the steps, her hard-heeled boots clopping on the sidewalk, echoing throughout the almost too-still night.

The door opened too easily, she thought as she closed it firmly behind her. Reaching blindly along the wall, she was relieved and a little bit surprised to find that the light worked. A moment later, however, she flicked it back off; except for in rooms without windows, she had better keep the lights out… she didn't want the cops called on her, and get dragged out of here. Not after coming all this way…

She moved up the stairs, leaving tracks in the dust, seeing by the moonlight filtering in through the dirty windows.

When she got upstairs, she quickly found a bedroom with a big dusty bed in it, and a cracked full-length mirror by the wall. She squinted around, quickly appraising the room; this would do. This room would do just fine.

Getting her Pepsi out, she popped some of the sleeping pills into her mouth and washed them down with it. Next, she started pulling some stuff out of her bag which she had brought.

First, she pulled out her battery-operated alarm clock and set it for 7AM, then set it by the bed.

She could still remember all the flashes that Jareh had shown her, all that she had learned of Freddy from them, and had come up with a plan. She wanted to present herself in a… certain way.

First, she pulled out a summer nightgown she had brought and slipped it on. Then she slipped a silver bracelet onto each wrist, and a silver anklet onto each ankle. Lastly, she took out a midnight blue ribbon and tied it into the back of her hair.

Looking into the mirror, she was pleased with the image she presented; the nightgown was white, and came down to rest just a couple of inches above her knees. It was lacy, and its collar was square-cut just low enough to show off her collarbones. It hugged her slightly, showing off her figure, except that when it got to her waist, it draped down to lay loosely above her knees in a sort of skirt. The ribbon contrasted nicely with the red in her hair, too.

Laying down on the dusty bed, already feeling the pills taking effect, she hummed, then sang softly, a song she'd heard through the flashes she'd been shown:

_One, two_

_Freddy's coming for you_

_Three, four_

_Better lock your door_

_Five, six_

_Grab a crucifix_

_Seven, eight_

_Gonna stay up late_

_Night, ten_

_Never sleep again_

_'Cause nine, ten_

_He's back…a…gain…_

With the last syllable she slipped off to sleep, feeling surprisingly little fear for what she expected to find…

**QS: Sorry! No Freddy this chapter… but, obviously, he will be in the next one. Cliffhanger, huh? dodges stones thrown sticks tongue out and goes back to computer to work on next chapter**

**BTW, as to how Molly chose to look, ya gotta remember… Freddy especially loved killing the children. Making herself look more like a girl then a woman, she's appealing to his sadistic nature.**

**Also, one more thing… I've finally figured out how I'm gonna end this. I'm so happy. :D**

**OH! And One MORE thing! I'm am VERY sorry this new chappy took so long to get up… it's just that, believe it or not, I thought put it up ages ago, but didn't realize I hadn't! Whacks self over head So I'm putting this up and the next chapter now… hope ya guys like.**


	4. Chapter Four

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Four**_

The first thing Crimmane was aware of was the sound of frantic breathing and running footsteps. It seemed she wasn't the only dreamer here tonight…

Nightsun and Bloodmoon visibly tensed, and she reached out with her mind, telling them to either stay calm and listen to her, or leave. They weren't about to leave her alone yet, so they listened.

Crimmane looked around, taking in her surroundings. As she had expected, she was in some sort of large boiler room that seemed to stretch on and on… the room was, as was expected, very hot. Even more so, in fact, by the form she currently was using… the fur wasn't very useful right now. All over the place were pipes, level upon level of mesh metal walkways, metal platforms, metal ladders, metal stairs, and metal bars. Several of the pipes spouted steam occasionally, and were obviously really quite hot.

She knew right now she didn't have too much time. Because she'd moved where she was, in the dream world as well as the real, it would take him a while to find her. But her time was still limited.

As she cocked her head and listened, she realized that the footsteps were coming closer… and then she heard it…

…_screeeeeeeet…_

She cringed as the sound bombarded her sensitive ears; the eerie sound of metal scraping on metal. It seemed almost as though it were a call… akin to a hunter letting out a cry as it closed in on its prey.

She starting walking along the walkway she was on, Nightsun and Bloodmoon following her, their claws clicking against the metal.

Ahead of her, a girl right around her age came peeling around the corner ahead of her. The girl looked to be one of those bitchy beauty-queen types. She had peroxide-blonde hair done in an elaborate style which made it look like she had used a whole can of hair-spray on it, and was wearing a white sequined dress marred by blood from the gash at her side. Blood was running down her pretty face, from where the wicked-looking spiked crown atop her head was digging into her skull.

When the girl saw the three huge wolf-like creatures ahead of her, she actually skidded on the metal floor in her panty-hosed feet (she must have lost her heels in running), letting out a fearful shriek, and started running in the opposite direction.

She was quickly stopped as a man stepped into view from the shadows, and Crimmane focused on him instantly; she could see that he wore old black pants, and a frayed, tattered red and green striped sweater. _Well, _she thought inwardly, with a little chuckle, _no one can say this guy doesn't have that good 'ol year-round Christmas spirit._

Next she noticed him… all covered in severe pinkish burn scars, it was safe to say that he was one scary-looking motherfucker. Icy bluegray eyes narrowed as Freddy leered at the blonde, his prey, revealing disgustingly yellow and decayed teeth.

And of course there was the glove. No way in _hell _could _anyone _miss that glove. A common dirty brown workman's glove underneath, slightly curved several-inch-long blades were affixed to each of the fingers of it, but not the thumb. He wore the glove on his right hand.

And right now… right now, the glove was already marked with fresh blood.

The girl, seeing that there was no place left to run, hunched down, sobbing and whimpering, cowering before the Nightmare King. "No… no, please don't kill me! I'm too young to die!" she sobbed, terrified.

Letting out a sinister chuckle, he grabbed the back of the girl's hair, dragging her to her feet. As he let her go, the tiara upon her head dug in further still, causing fresh rivulets of blood to run down her face. He let out a gravelly chuckle again. "That's what they all say. Ah, to have to suffer the pain of the burden of carrying the Springwood Homecoming Queen crown." He crooned in an only-too-mocking tone, and Crimmane noticed that his voice was gravelly with a sort of resonance behind it that she knew could only be the dream demons which rested inside him.

As the girl let out another whimper, obviously too petrified to run, he placed the blade of his index finger delicately under her chin. "Jessica, you do know that being crowned Homecoming Queen in Springwood is nothing to brag about, don't you, Bitch? What with how many bitches like you I've killed, you're probably the only one left… I guess you shoulda remember to take your Hypnocil, huh?"

Jessica shrieked; her pharmacist had told her that Hypnocil couldn't be mixed with the diet pills she was taking. She'd wanted to be trim for the upcoming election, and it had worked. She hadn't even been that worried… after all, Freddy was dead, right? Nothing had been heard about him for years. The crown grew heavier and heavier for the girl, and she moved to try and rip it from her head, but it just dug in further. With a shriek, she fell to her knees as they buckled, and then fell face-first into the walkway, unable to hold up the massive weight any longer. As her face was pressed into the mesh of the walkway, strangled whimpers could be heard. Crouching by her, Freddy spoke again. "The weight of the Homecoming Crown. Some can take it-"

With a sickening squelching noise, the crown caved her skull in, going through her brains like butter to rest on the walkway. Freddy smirked and bent down to pick up the now back-to-normal tiara, twirling it lightly on his blade. "-and some can't."

Crimmane watched all of this detachedly. Even though she knew that this was actually real, after the years of watching _him _kill her loved ones and torture them over and over again, watching a stranger die this gruesome death was no big deal. She supposed she should have felt bad for this detachment, this inhumanity, but at the moment she wasn't bothered by it. She stepped forward slightly, waiting for Freddy to notice her.

Freddy's maniacal grin faded soon. It had been years since anyone had dreamed of him, what with that goddamned Hypnocil, and it was good to be back… however, it would probably be a long wait before anyone else stopped taking it, or forgot. As it was, it was inevitable that he'd fade again… for who knows how long this time…

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see what had made that stupid bitch come running back towards him. Three wolf-like creatures stood there, the two in the back the size of great danes, their eyes glowing slightly, the one in front only a bit bigger than the average wolf, smaller than the other two behind her. The two in back showed their teeth, growling slightly at Freddy, but a look from the one in front silenced them. Freddy's eyes narrowed at them. _What the fuck? Since when did my playground include a bunch of dogs?_

He flexed his gloved hand, about to state his question, when the lead wolf-thing stepped forward. A moment later, there was a blinding flash and a girl was standing there instead, her green-blue gaze steadily on Freddy.

Freddy took in the image of the girl, his icy eyes narrowed. She looked to be in her late teens, as the rest of the brats usually were. She was adorned in an innocent-looking white nightgown, and her hair was a mass of reddish gold curls, partially tied back with a midnight blue ribbon, but leaving many curls to frame her face. Her face looked as though she hadn't slept in a long while, and this surprised Freddy; it couldn't be from him… he'd never seen this one. Her mouth was set in a tight line and he was pissed to find that the girl's eyes held no fear when she saw him.

Snapping out of his reflections, he leered at her. "Well, whaddya know… fresh meat."

One of the creatures by the girl raised its hackles, and she knelt to rub the top of its mane gently, calming it, never taking her eyes off of Freddy. Smiling slightly, she shook her head, and spoke in a soft, yet clear voice. "Nuh uh. I don't think so." After saying this, she stood, crossing her arms and leaning on one leg casually. "So I guess you must be him, huh? Freddy Krueger. 'The' Freddy Krueger, also known as the Springwood Slasher while you were alive, and known as the son of a hundred maniacs as a child. Child of Amanda Krueger, a nun, whom was raped by a hundred criminally insane men when she was accidentally locked overnight with them, thus resulting in her shameful pregnancy with you. Widow-husband to Loretta Krueger, who you yourself killed, and father to Katherine Krueger, who brought you to the physical world and put you to sleep with your own glove. I say put you to sleep instead of killed, since you always come back to kill more, and add to the number of your 'children'."

Anger showed in the dream-killer's eyes, and he moved down the walkway towards the girl, blades raised to strike. Just who was this bitch, coming in here and thinking she knew all about him! He'd slice her open just to show her how much she really knew! He'd see fear in her eyes and hear her beg for mercy before she died!

About a foot from her however, Freddy ran into an obstruction; it seemed that there was some sort of invisible wall there, protecting the girl. And it was then he noticed that the two wolf-thingys' eyes were glowing again. One pair of bloodred eyes, and one pair of green. If he was still human, he knew he most likely would have been scared shitless… but this girl… underneath all this other shit, he could sense that she was still fully human and oh so alive. But there was a difference… one that he found he didn't like one bit. Most of his dreamers, when they entered his playground, had minds that were completely open to him. After all, that's how he used their fears and insecurities against them. But her… for some reason, he couldn't see into her mind, and it just pissed him off further. But he decided not to show it. At least not yet.

Realizing he couldn't reach her just now, he stepped back to speak in his rough voice. "Right in one. But I guess that just leaves one question: who in hell are you, bitch! Tell me now and I might make your death _slightly _less painful, since daddy's already had fun tonight…"

She tsked and shook her head. "No need to threaten me, Krueger. You can't reach me right now… you should know, though. My pack members are protecting me simply because they think I deserve the chance to be heard, if nothing else… If it was up to me, I'd let you kill me and be done with it…" her voice trailed off slightly here, losing a bit of its confidence, and her gaze fell. "But even then, I don't think you could kill me. Your powers are centered on dreams, and so are his. Whenever I'm hurt in my dreams, 'he' can heal me. That's how he's brought me to the point of death so many times and back again… and so you see, even if you had your way with me now, I couldn't die, not really."

This was really starting to piss Freddy off; he wasn't used to having to sit there and listen to a bitch talk, usually he could just kill them! "What the fuck are you talking about?" he growled. "If I killed you, bitch, you'd stay dead. You're as human as everyone else that comes in here… I can smell it on ya."

The girl shook her head again, her curls bouncing slightly. "No, I wouldn't…" she smirked grimly, and continued. "As much as I would 'enjoy' being one of your 'children'…" she held up her left hand, where Freddy could just barely make out a small red scar around the center of her palm. "As you can see, Krueger, I'm already claimed. So that means that you can't have me… since I belong to 'him'…"

Freddy tapped one of his blades on a nearby pipe, giving off the appearance that he was bored; however, the nightmare king was anything but. This girl seemed to think that she couldn't be killed by him… oh, what fun he would have, proving her wrong. As soon as he got rid of her fucking mutts, that is. But for now… for now, he'd humor the bitch, and let her continue with what she was saying. He had nothing better to do, anyway. It was no fun for him when no one was in his playground; even when he was here, there wasn't much he could do other then wander around in the old house, or the boiler room. Sure, he could conjure up other things with his powers, but even that got old after a while.

It was funny to him, that she thought that some little scar some other guy had given her in her pitiful daily life would mean anything to him… so funny, in fact, that he let out a sinister chuckle. "You think that means anything to me? I don't know what you've heard about me, bitch, but I follow no one's rules but my own. You know what someone else's claim means to me? Absolutely shit. If I decide to kill you, I'll kill you, and your little dogs, too… and ain't nothin' gonna stop me."

She shook her head once more, eyes closed, and pinched the bridge of her nose slightly before opening them again. "Let me show you." And, to Freddy's great surprise, she extended her hand through the invisible shield, palm up, towards him.

Molly was glad that Jareh had taught her this little trick… because of that scar that 'he' had left her with, she could do this… and Jareh had known that it would probably be necessary for the plan. She knew she was taking a great risk, allowing him to touch her, but she was already taking a risk, so who cared?

Freddy stared at the hand for a second, assorted thoughts running through his twisted mind; one of these was to reach out and slice that bitch's arm right open, just to hear her delicious screams fill his ears. Another was wonderment that another human was actually _volunteering _to touch him… that hadn't happened since Katherine had been stolen from him. However, he decided to wait and, seriously doubting the girl's sanity, reached out his left, ungloved hand, and placed it in her soft outstretched hand, not knowing what to expect.

PAIN! ! Pain ripped through Freddy, driving him to his knees in its unexpectedness, and he tried to yank his hand back, only to find that the bitch's grip was iron as she determinedly hung on, set on showing him this…

Images flashed before his eyes, images of Molly's memories of the years she'd suffered with 'him' in her dreams, sapping her will with those damned green eyes, tortured in more ways then anyone could imagine and watching others tortured and killed before her very eyes over and over and over again. And, at the end of each night, she was healed once more for the most part, aside from a few minor bruises and/or cuts to remind her that he had power over her.

All at once, Molly broke contact and fell back into her shield, landing with a thump between Nightsun and Bloodmoon, leaving Freddy still crouched on the ground, icy blue eyes unfocused as his mind processed the images. She panted slightly, out of breath from the exertion of transmitting her memories…

Bloodmoon whined slightly at her, the shine in his eyes faded slightly, and Molly got the impression of what he was saying… the lupe's energy was not inexhaustible, and they could not keep this up much longer… she sat up from her sprawled position she'd landed in when she fell, and looked at each of them in turn, communicating her thought to them. _Don't worry… just a little longer… _She knew time was limited, anyway… 'he' would find her soon… she could feel him searching for her even now.

Shifting, she remained seated, but leaned back against the rails by the walkway, her attitude and posture relaxed, her legs stretched before her. One leg's knee was up in this position, and she just sat there, watching Freddy.

_What the FUCK? _What had that bitch done to him! He was used to pain, but how the fuck had she done it! And those images she'd shown him… those memories… that man in them, from her dreams…

The dream demons in him hissed angrily, and he knew only a moment later that they were as pissed as him; nightmares were their territory, and theirs ALONE! Somehow, from the memories, he knew that that guy wasn't human, possibly never had been, unlike Freddy. But that didn't mean he couldn't slice his ass up!

But the dream demons also hissed caution at him; they didn't know what this 'man' was, either, and he should exercise caution when dealing with him.

Ah FUCK IT! He couldn't be killed except in the real world, and even that was only temporary! He had nothing to be afraid of! Hmph! He was fucking immune to fear! After all, he was the King of Nightmares!

A moment later, his eyes focused, but he remained crouched where he was, and raised his head to stare unblinkingly at the bitch reclining a few feet in front of him… 'Serenity', he'd heard the guy call her in the memories.

"So," his voice was even rougher than usual when he finally spoke. "Serenity, is it?"

This spurred a reaction on her face, which, until now, had been calm since she'd entered his domain. A look of rage crossed her face, and she spoke, her voice dripping with it. "Don't fucking call me that, 'Frederick'! My name's Molly!" The only person she allowed to call her that was Jareh, and only because he'd been her friend for so long… but it was also what 'he' called her, and she loathed it.

Freddy smirked. "The name's Freddy, as you already know, bitch! Molly… it doesn't suit you." And this was true. To him, it felt like calling a cat a panda, or something like that… He tapped his blade against his chin, thinking. "Hmm… I'll call you Sere. Or bitch."

Molly scowled, but didn't object. She reigned in her emotions once more, and the calm, detached expression came over her face.

"So, as I was saying…" Freddy continued, "Why the fuck did you come here? You expect me to protect you? Hmph!"

Molly smiled; it was time to play another one of her cards… the one she was counting on most… "Not exactly…" She drawled, withdrawing a straight razor from where she'd had it hidden in her hair. She proceeded to press it to just above one of her ankles and, applying slight pressure, began to draw it up the outstretched leg slowly, blood welling up languidly in its wake. She didn't even wince as she spoke during the act of doing so. "You know, Freddy… I've spent a lot of years suffering under him… being hurt again and again by him… draining me… But there's a little something about me that even he doesn't know, Freddy. You see, it seems I've started to enjoy the pain; it cuts through the numbness I feel anymore, reminding me that I'm still alive. You could say I use the pain… to make me stronger, you know? But…" She pouted here, aware of Freddy's eyes on her, as the man unconsciously licked his lips. "…I've also built up quite a pain endurance. It takes quite a lot to hurt me, and even more to scare me, as you can see. Think about it, Freddy. Death doesn't scare me. Pain doesn't scare me. Watching pain doesn't scare me… not anymore at least… It's such a pity I belong to him…" she smirked here, her voice sort of husky. "You and I could have such fun. You, of all people, should know what I mean. About using pain to your benefit, I mean." It seemed she was finished with what she had to say. Putting down the razor, she pressed slightly at the wound, a little innocent smile curling at her lips. A moment later, she pressed a blood-covered finger to those smiling lips, and licked the blood off, the innocent smile never leaving her face.

Freddy unconsciously licked his lips again, and let out a sort of little growl as he painfully felt his arousal. He was reminded of his memories of when he'd lived with the pimp, pressing the blade to his own flesh, actually enjoying the sensation as he learned to use to pain to make him stronger… And the bitch was right; oh, what fun he could have with her! The usual brats screamed so easily… as sweet as the screams were, they came almost _too _easily. This girl, though, Sere, he'd have to actually _work _to make her scream! And when the screams finally came… oh, how delicious they would be!

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a distant footstep, and, for the first time, a look of terror came over Sere's face. "Oh, no! He's found me!"

**QS: *grinz devilishly* How's that for a cliffhanger? This, I think, is my longest chapter yet. Writing Freddy made me nervous, but I think I got his personality okay for my first try. What do you guys think?**

**Freddy was in this chapter, as promised, at least. I personally loved the way Jessica died… it seemed so… Freddy, ya know? The reason I had my lupes help me, btw, is because, as we all know, Freddy is usually a kill-first, talk-never sort of dude, so I really needed to make sure he couldn't kill Molly as soon as he saw her. You guys should be able to see what she's doing… she's manipulating him by plying to his perverse nature and his torturous, pain-inflicting nature both at once. She's not stupid enough to just come out and ask for help, you know? This chapter was really thought-out on my part, so please tell me what you think!**

**And oh, by the way, you wanna know something funny? When I wrote chapter two, where Molly was cutting herself and stuff, not minding the pain, I hadn't seen Nightmare on Elm Street 6 yet, where we see his path with him cutting himself as a teenager and stuff. So imagine my happiness when I saw it just two days ago! My pain-plan works out even better then I thought it would, you know? ;P**


	5. Chapter Five

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Five**_

"Oh, no! He's found me!"

For the first time since Sere had entered Freddy's playground, a look of fear came over her face. The thing was, Freddy found it rather insulting that it wasn't he who caused it!

As he finally got to his feet, Sere took another step back, the terrified look still on her face. In the next moment, Crimmane once more stood where Sere had been, and she turned tail and ran along with her two pack members.

Briefly, Freddy considered going after the bitch, as would have been his first instinct, but decided against it. _Ah, I'll get to her eventually…_

Instead, he decided to stand right there and wait, as it sounded as though the footsteps were coming towards him. A silk-lined male voice sounded out, echoing throughout Freddy's playground.

"Serenity… Where are you? Are you trying to play hide and seek, Serenity? Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Over the words, our favorite nightmare monster could hear the sound of claws clicking fading as the lupes ran.

About a minute later, some distance ahead of him on the metal mesh walkways, a figure appeared. He kept walking until he reached Freddy, and then stopped, his fiery green eyes looking the Nightmare King up and down.

"And what is this?" He drawled out. "Another pitiful protector created by Serenity's imagination? Really, I thought she would have learned by now that she has no real power in this realm…"

Freddy's eyes narrowed as he observed the being before him; there was power here. "You don't know who you're talking to, do you, Bitch? I'm no figment… I'm Freddy Krueger, and I'm as real as they come here. And you're in my playground now; I'm the one with the power!" He splayed his razors in his trademark gesture, the metallic blades gleaming dimly in red-lit room.

The man sneered. "Is that supposed to scare me? Your pitiful little mortal weapon? Save yourself the trouble, and get out of my way; I shall be out of your 'playground' soon enough… just as soon as I retrieve my property; she seems to have hidden herself somewhere around here, I can smell her. A young woman with reddish hair… perhaps you have seen her? The sooner I retrieve her, the sooner I leave this…" His lip curled disdainfully here. "…_place o_f yours."

Freddy smirked; this thing really did not realize who, or what, was in front of him. "See, now, there's a problem."

"And that is?"

The smirk grew. Freddy could sense the girl from a distance, still trying to get further away. "The problem is yours, not mine. You shouldn't have allowed Sere to make it into my playground… now that she has, she's my property now. One of my 'children'."

A look of fury came over Jireziah's face, that this man, who he could sense was a demon similar to him, dared defy him; NO ONE defied him! When he spoke next, his voice dripped with the venom of barely concealed threat. "You _will _give her to me." He locked eyes with Freddy, the green in his eyes burning brighter than ever.

"No, I won't, Bitch. In fact…" He swiped lightning-fast at Jireziah, and the other demon leapt deftly back. "I feel like killing you, just for coming here."

Jireziah stared at Freddy for half a moment later, as though considering, before he suddenly leapt up, phasing through the grate above them and taking off running in the direction that Crimmane and her pack had started running.

Sneering, Freddy willed himself up there, too, and then he was there. He was mildly surprised, however, to find his path obstructed by several dogs. He growled. _Damnit, how do these fucking mutts keep getting in!_

These weren't like those creatures that were with Crimmane, though; these actually did look more like dogs; large dogs, built like rottweilers but shaped a bit more like Dobermans, their black coats covered in blood, their eyes glowing like hot red coals. Their teeth were bared and saliva dripped as they advanced on Freddy, enclosing him in a circle.

Freddy simply sneered; this would be fun! One of them leapt at him, heading for his throat, but he simply grabbed it with his ungloved hand and shoved his razors through its neck, throwing it over the siderails, cackling.

The other dogs, who he had figured out by now most likely belonged to the other demon, stepped back a bit. When he advanced, though, they attacked. All in all, it didn't take him long to dispose of the fucking mutts… he knew they probably hadn't even been meant to kill him, simply to slow him down. What Jireziah was obviously hoping to do was get to the girl before Freddy did, and just leave with her before Freddy could do anything about it…

Crimmane came to an abrupt halt, reaching a dead end, and Bloodmoon and Nightsun stopped with her. It was useless… she knew he would catch her, as usual. She transformed to her human self, tears in her eyes; there was only one thing she could do. She swallowed, and spoke, quietly.

"Guys… It's time for you to go."

The two lupes whined, obviously not wanting to. Their eyes, respectively red and green, burned with concern for their mistress.

"Please… go. I don't want you to be killed by him; you know he can."

And so, she knelt and hugged them. She knew what they were afraid of; they were afraid that, however things turned out, this would be the last time they ever saw her.

Once she stood, they both disappeared, and she was left alone.

"Did you really think that you could get away from me?"

She turned around suddenly to find 'him' a few feet behind her. She let out a whimper, and backed up until her back touched wall.

He advanced on her, step by step, enjoying every moment of this. "I shall have to punish you for this, you know, Serenity. And it shall be so very sweet."

Something began to grow out of the metal walkway between them, and a moment later it formed into Freddy, and Molly felt a slight bit of hope.

Freddy sneered. "I told you. The bitch isn't leaving here."

Jireziah pulled a sword out of nowhere, taking a fighting stance. "I should have known my hounds wouldn't last. No matter… I always have more." He leapt at Freddy, swinging the sword skillfully, slashing Freddy across the arm. The wound healed immediately, though.

Meanwhile, Molly was edging sideways, about to climb over the rail. Freddy glanced back. "Ah, ah, Sere… stay right there. We're gonna have fun as soon as I'm done with this bitch." A moment later, chains sprouted from the wall and shackled themselves to her wrists and ankles, holding her in place.

Jireziah's eyes flashed brighter, and he started to change. The pupils of his eyes narrowed to become like a cat's, starting out, and then there was a shredding noise as the back of his vest split open. Pulling off the remnants, he grinned ferally at Freddy, his teeth sharpening. The wings of the dragon on his back were sprouting out of his back, growing quickly until they were full-sized. Meanwhile, his black hair grew probably about five inches and talons grew from his fingertips. A moment later, he flapped his great wings once and lifted off of the metal walkway, swooping up skillfully until he was above the walkways.

"You wished to fight me so badly, Freddy," he called, "Now's your chance."

Freddy, in turn, grinned. This guy seemed to have tricks up his sleeve… well, he wasn't the only one. His neck started to stretch and stretch, and then his body started to expand greatly. The neck split into two, then four, then finally eight. When he was done changing, the result was an immense, eight-headed hydra with Freddy faces.

Molly watched all of this in horror, wondering who would win.

Two hours later, it was getting ridiculous. The two seemed to be evenly matched in powers, and no matter what they did to hurt each other, they simply kept healing. There was no way for one to kill the other, or even beat the other.

They both transformed back into their normal forms, glaring at each other.

"I have a proposal," Jireziah said.

"What is it, Bitch?" Freddy was seriously annoyed. For once, he didn't know what to do with this guy… his demons were even at a loss.

"I think we have both realized by now that fighting each other is pointless."

"So what should we do?"

Jireziah looked like he didn't like this one bit. "Well, since you won't simply let me have her… I suggest something other than fighting."

Freddy just glared at him, waiting.

"A game."

"A game?"

"A game. Fair rules. Winner gets to keep the girl to do with as they wish."

"Fine."

Molly listened to the conversation, feeling terror within her. What was she to do?

And then, her alarm began to beep.

The last thing she heard as she left the dream world was…

"Tomorrow night."

**QS: I'm very sorry if this chapter isn't up to par… if you guys think I'll need to, I'll do a rewrite of it. However, I can't go more into detail on the battle, since I'm so crappy with fight scenes. I really liked my reviews, and really wanted to get another chapter out for you guys, so I did my best… sorry.**

**And now, I need to figure out something before I continue. I need to figure out what game they'll play. Nothing funny, definitely. My first thought was Chess, but I thought that that would be too intellectual for Freddy.**

**What do you all think? Please help. This was the only solution I could come up with as to how two dream demons would fight.**

**Again, sorry if it's crappy… It's almost 2AM right now and I keep feeling this chapter sucks. Not to mention, it's not as long as usual… *****groans miserably***


	6. Chapter Six

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Six**_

Molly sat up, sweating, her heart beating a mile a minute.

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. It hadn't worked… In the back of her mind, she had sort of been hoping that 'he' and Freddy would kill each other off, and she would be left to her own devices.

It seemed, though, that it was not to be. They could not harm each other, and now it seemed that she was to be the prize of whatever demented game they came up with while she was awake.

Sitting there, she felt completely drained; a voice in her mind whispered for her to escape, and she briefly considered it… but quickly decided against it. She'd already run away, really. This was her last place to run… her very last hope.

She had no doubt that if she left this place then 'he' would find a way to be sure she could not access Freddy's playground from the outside, and then 'he' would find her again, and she'd just be back in the same situation as before, except that he would probably find a way to increase her suffering, since he was so obviously pissed that she had come here.

If she stayed, she could see two things that would happen… if 'he' won, she'd be back in the same situation, and 'he' would keep her alive until the end of her years, inflicting upon her whatever horrors he felt like.

It would be Freddy who she would want to win. At least if that psychopath won, then he would probably torture her, then kill her… at least then she'd be dead, and away from 'him' where he could never ever reach her.

Sighing, she got up and re-dressed herself, then left.

Walking with deliberate steps back toward the place where she'd left Marcus, she detachedly observed the scenery around her; if everything went the way she was hoping for, then this was most probably her last day to live.

Strangely, though, as this thought occurred to her, she didn't mind. Long, long ago she had grown used to the idea of her dying. At first, she had several times thought that 'he' would kill her, and 'he' brought her close oh-so-many times, but each time he brought her back. It was an unbearable torture, and she had actually started to wish that her misery would be ended.

And it seemed it would be now.

When she knocked on the motel door, a bleary-eyed Marcus answered. "Jesus, do you know what time it is?" He squinted at her. "What the hell's up with you? You look like a fucking ghost."

And she did. Her skin paler even than usual, dark circles ringing her bloodshot eyes, Molly looked like a ghost… or perhaps a corpse.

She shrugged and brushed past Marcus, who closed the door after she was inside. Digging in her bag, she pulled out something and held it out to him. "Here's the rest of your money."

He took it. "You ready to go home, then?"

She shook her head. "I… I might not be going home."

"Huh?" he looked confused.

"You can leave without me now, if you want, or you can wait around for me. I'll be leaving again tonight. If I don't come back tomorrow, then… I won't be coming back. You won't be seeing me again, then, and you can just leave without me. Or now, like I said."

Throughout all of this, her voice had been strangely emotionless, and Marcus blinked. "I'll wait for you, but… is there something going on with you, Molly? 'Cause you seriously don't look well and –"

Molly coldly interrupted him. "I'm paying you for rides, not for getting into my business."

He frowned. "Fine."

The rest of the day passed by in a blur and, before she knew it, Molly found herself back at 1428 Elm Street. She went through the same preparations as she had the night before, except that she stayed, sitting, for a few moments, looking around. She might never again awake.

As she fell asleep, Molly didn't notice as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Back in the dream world, Sere 'awoke' in shackles, as she had been in when she had fallen asleep. However, instead of being at the end of a long metal mesh walkway, she was on the floor, in a large square area, though it was quite obvious that she was still in Freddy's playground.

Said Nightmare King was there, waiting for her, as was Jireziah. Both demons had sure-of-themselves smirks on their faces.

It was Jireziah who spoke. "We have decided upon a game."

Freddy waved his clawed hand, and a large portion of the floor was covered by alternating black-and-red squares. The game was –

"Chess," Sere said. Her voice was, surprisingly to her, more sure than she would have expected.

Freddy and Jireziah each moved to specified squares, and the outfit of each changed slightly. Over his normal outfit, Freddy now wore a long black leather duster, and was holding a kingly sword in his ungloved hand.

As for Jireziah, he was now wearing a king's robe over his outfit and was, too, holding a sword. A golden band graced his brow.

Freddy was red, and Jireziah black. The reason the board wasn't the usual white and black was obvious… neither demon would have agreed to being white.

On each of their sides, one of the pawn's spaces glowed slightly.

"You are playing, too, Serenity," said Jireziah.

Freddy gestured with his claw, and his gravelly voice sounded out. "Pick your side, Bitch."

Surprised, Sere looked back and forth between the two glowing spaces uncertainly. She was playing, too? It would be idiotic to pick 'his' side, but if she picked Freddy's, and 'he' won, she would surely be punished even more severely later…

…_Oh, well…_  
Holding her head high, showing no fear, Sere made her way to the glowing space on Freddy's side. Her clothes immediately were changed to brown pants and a red tunic-shirt, and a wicked looking dagger was strapped to her waist.

The look on Jireziah's face was priceless. "I assure you, Serenity," he intoned, "that when this is over, you will be severely punished."

Freddy sneered. "You won't be punishing what is mine."

A moment later, the squares on Freddy's side seemed to have movement in them. People were crawling out of them… Sere was horrified to see that the person who had climbed out of the square beside Freddy, dressed in queen's garments with her wavy brown hair up, had horrible stab wounds. This was Nancy, a girl who Sere knew had been the first to banish Freddy, only to be killed by him at a later time.

Looking around, she could see that all of the other players on Freddy's side were past victims whose souls he had collected, all looking as they had when they had been dying. One girl, with light brown hair, looked like she had been overstuffed with food.

The looks on their faces were agonized, but they didn't talk, only occasionally made an agonized moan.

Freddy looked around at his 'children', and chuckled menacingly, a sort of demented proud look upon his fire-ravaged face.

Sere looked over at Jireziah's side to see if he had summoned his pieces, wondering despite herself what he would use, and let out a gasp of horror. She shouldn't have been surprised… she really shouldn't… but she was.

Jireziah smirked even more maliciously than usual as he watched Sere's eyes take in his pieces.

At Jireziah's side, in the position of the queen, was Sere's mother. In the positions of the knights were her brother, Carl, and a male friend of hers whom she'd known for years, Alan. In the positions of the bishops was her ex-stepfather, Michael, and… what the!

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't fucking believe it… family and friends were nothing new for him, though she hadn't expected them here… but this? The other bishop was who she thought was the sexiest guy on earth, the lead singer of her favorite band, My Chemical Romance… Gerard Way. Standing there in all his sexy glory.

In the corners, the rooks were her little sister, Ashley, and her best friend since they were little, Angela.

Five of the pawns were her ex-boyfriends, Jesse, Josh, Sean, Willy, and Tony. One pawn was her ex-stepbrother, Brandon. The last two pawns sort of confused her; why on earth would he use these two? They were two people who had bullied her since Kindergarten, a black boy named M.J. and a snobby girl named Shelby.

Jireziah was such an ass. He was just doing this to bug her.

Not long into the game, Sere got an unpleasant surprise. Whenever one piece took out another piece, they were to kill them.

Freddy, whenever he chose for her to move, had her choose where she would move, so long as it was within the rules of the game.

It wasn't long before she was in a position where she found an obstacle. Freddy had gestured for her to move. She was in a position where she could take out either of two of Jireziah's pawns… It was Jesse and Josh.

Jesse, who she had gone out with for three years, who hadn't even told her that he was moving. She'd shown up at his place one day to visit to find the place abandoned and empty.

Josh, who had broken up with her because his parents had said she was a bad influence.

She looked helplessly back and forth between the two. She would have to actually kill one of them! Even if it wasn't real, it still… seemed so real to her!

Freddy tapped a singular claw against his pant leg in impatience. "Make your move, Bitch," he growled out.

Tears shined in her eyes. _I've gotta do it, _she reminded herself. _Besides, it's not real. _Resolution hardened her tear-filled eyes, and she took a step towards Jesse. Terror filled the boy's eyes, and he pleaded with her, "Molly, please don't kill me! I know I should have told you, I was stupid!"

Her jaw set resolutely, Sere stepped forward and plunged her dagger into Jesse's chest. As she pulled the blade out, blood flowed out of the wound and onto her hands, staining her flesh. Jesse slumped to the ground, and she stepped over him, into the square where he had stood. Tears shined in her eyes, but she kept them from falling. This wasn't real. She would be strong. She would be free.

It wasn't much later before she came up against another pawn. She noticed that she could have been taken out, but it seemed that Jireziah was avoiding doing so. Knowing him, he probably wanted to save all the physical pain he would inflict upon her for later, and just torture her with the mental agony of seeing all this bloodshed to those she knew right now. Most likely, he wasn't worried about her, really, since she was just a pawn. A weak piece.

The pawn she was up against… it was M.J. Looking at the boy in front of her, knowing that she would have to kill him, Sere felt something stir within her. This boy… since Kindergarten, he had gone out of his way to make her life miserable. He had found ways to outcast her from the other students and, because of him, she had had to spend most of her days in elementary and junior high completely alone but for a couple of friends.

As she moved towards him, memories of it overtook her mind, and rage filled her eyes. M.J. backed away. "Come on, Molly, it was just a joke. Kid stuff, ya know?"

She didn't seem to hear him. Grabbing him by the shirt with her left hand, she laughed, in a voice unlike her own. "Kid stuff, huh? Let's see if your twisted little mind thinks of this as kid stuff, you sadistic son of a bitch. I should have done this to you years ago." With that, she ripped the dagger across his stomach deeply, so that M.J., shock in his eyes, had to grab his stomach to keep his own bowels from falling out. As he fell to his knees, Sere grabbed him by the hair and viciously slashed his throat. The boy collapsed sideways and his hands left his stomach so that his entrails spilled out. A pool of blood and bile quickly surrounded the boy, filling the heated air with an unbelievable stench.

Paying no heed, Sere stepped into the mess, into the square where M.J. had been.

As the red rage and the memories faded, Sere could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins along with assorted emotions. There was, of course, the natural guilt that she felt for harming and killing someone. But, underneath, there was that something which she had felt stirring, that darkness… in the act of killing M.J., she had felt a sort of sinfully delicious pleasure at harming him, at causing agony and death to one who had made her so miserable.

She stared down at her blood-covered hands and clothes, at the mess at her feet. What was she? What had she become?

Sere was pulled out of her reflections by the feeling of eyes on her. Looking a few rows ahead, she could see Jireziah watching her, a smirk on his face. Damn him! He had planned this. This was why he had added in enemies of hers.

But that wasn't all…

Feeling his eyes burning into the back of her head, Sere turned to find Freddy staring at her, his eyes darkened, an unreadable expression on his face.

The game had been going on for hours. Corpses littered the board.

Many of the pieces on both sides had been taken out. At one point, Jireziah had pulled a clever move and taken out Freddy's queen, Nancy. Freddy had done the same to Jireziah's queen, Sere's mother. In fact, he had personally made that move, tossing his sword aside and taking great pleasure in shoving his blades deep into the woman. This game was really getting to him… he didn't have this patience.

To get to where she was, just one row from the end of the board, Sere had had to kill multiple people… including her own brother, and then Angela. The look of betrayal on her friend's face was torturous.

The singer, Gerard Way, was still alive. The pitiful thing was, she still found him sexy, even though he was very, very spattered in blood. Oh, god, was he sexy.

Freddy had Jireziah almost trapped. But not quite. Each time Freddy moved someone into place to take the asshole out, he would move forward a space, or sideways a space, etc., to find a way out of it.

As Freddy was about to make his next move, Sere called out, breaking the silence she'd kept of herself for most of the game. "Freddy."

He glanced at her, and the look in her eyes said she wanted to move. He sneered. "Fine, then. Make your move, Bitch."

So Sere did. Jireziah should have taken her out when he had the chance, but he hadn't.

She took a step forward to the next square, and the effect was instantaneous. Her blood-stained peasant's clothes were replaced by beautiful, velvet crimson-and-ebony queen's robes, and a golden tiara sat on her head. The dagger at her waist was replaced by a jewel-encrusted sword in her hand.

Pawn to queen.

She was now standing down the row from Jireziah. If he moved in any direction, he would be put in the way of one of Freddy's other pieces.

His face whiter than usual, Jireziah stepped back, unaware that he was making his move into the square behind him.

Her face triumphant, Sere strode forward and plunged her sword into him.

Freddy's voice was smug and triumphant all at once as he spoke.

"Checkmate."

The look on Jireziah's face as he faded out of sight was one of fury and complete loathing.

They had won.

**QS: (READ!) The End. **

***waits for everyone to start leaving, and is surprised to find them all glaring at her. Gives an innocent look* What? Why are you all still here? she grinz Sorry, I was just joking. Don't worry, I wouldn't leave you guys like that.**

**As you can see, I ended up choosing chess. I just hope I creeped it up enough. I didn't go into details of the whole game, 'cause I figure that would be too boring, and I'm not a good enough player to write a well-played game of chess. Any chess errors I made, I don't care. Let's just say I changed it to suit the story.**

**After this, there is only one chapter left to write. I can't believe I'm finally ending this fic. I hope you have all liked it. When I started out writing this, based upon the horrors of my own nightmares, I was hoping for one thing. I wanted to write a NOES fic that was different from all of the others. One that would stand out in your head, and not because it sucked. I wanted this one to be one of the best in this particular category. I hope I succeeded, because I have put so much effort into this fic that it is not even funny.**


	7. Chapter Seven END

**Title: Fighting Fire With Fire**

_**Author: Queen Serenity**_

_**Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street**_

_**Chapter: Seven**_

Sere couldn't believe it. They had won. They had really won.

She turned to Freddy, her head hanging forward so that her hair obscured her face. Her voice, when she spoke, was a dull whisper.

"I guess… I guess I belong to you now." When Freddy didn't reply, she looked up to see that he was looking at her in an odd way, almost as though he was measuring her up.

When he spoke, his voice, if possible, was even rougher than normal. "Tell the truth. When you killed that boy, what did it feel like? You know the one I mean."

When she answered, she found that she couldn't lie. Maybe it was because he basically owned her now. That fear that had haunted her for so was gone now. She felt calm, and free. Even if she died, she would be free. "The first thing I felt was a bit of guilt. It did seem like, after all, I had killed someone. The guilt was automatic. A reflex, you might say."

He waved a claw at her. "But what else did you feel?"

She didn't answer, and stared at her feet. She couldn't lie, but she could keep quiet. She didn't want to admit what it had felt like.

When she did not reply, she heard footsteps as Freddy came towards her. The next thing she knew, a single razor-tipped finger was placed under her chin, just barely touching her throat, forcing her to lift her head. When she did, she found his face only inches from her own.

Staring at his icy cold blue-gray eyes, a thought occurred to Sere. As evil as Freddy was, as inhuman, it was still obvious by his eyes that he had been human years ago. They were the most human-looking thing about him. His breath, when he spoke, was fetid.

"Answer the question, Sere. What else did you feel?" His voice was low, guttural.

She knew she had to answer. She had to, she did. She felt compelled to answer, and knew she couldn't lie. When she spoke, her voice was dull, as though she had went back into that mode of emotional detachment of hers once more, and her blue-green eyes never left his.

"It felt… good. No, it felt better than good. It was like there'd been something hungry inside me that I hadn't known about, some sort of darkness, and I had fed it for the first time. In the act of doing it, the thrill it sent through my veins during and after made me feel more alive than anything has in a long time. Even more than pain. Even with the guilt, it was the best thing I've ever felt."

Freddy didn't say anything to that. He simply continued staring at her.

"How are you going to kill me?"

His voice, when he answered her, was triumphant. "And who said I was going to kill you?"

Her eyes widened in shock.

Two weeks later…

"Don't forget, class, those papers will be due after the weekend," the teacher said as the students left the classroom. The woman sighed and rolled her eyes as it seemed the students didn't hear her. She knew that at least a quarter of them would have feeble excuses on Monday as to why their papers wouldn't be with them.

"Molly! Hey, Molly, wait up!"

At the sound of her name, Molly slowed down so that she separated from the hoard of students and waited.

Angel hurried up to her and grabbed Molly's shirt, pulling her into the nearby ladies' room.

"What's up?" Molly asked.

Angela looked her up and down slowly, and a weird smile slowly crossed her face as her gaze ended up at Molly's neck.

Molly shot her an odd look. "What?"

Angel smirked. "Alright, who is he?"

"What?" Molly looked confused.

Angela sighed. "You've been very withdrawn for a long time now, Molly. Don't think I hadn't noticed. I just couldn't figure out how to get you back to your old self. You were getting worse and worse, and you've been really unhealthy-looking, too. And now, look at you. For the past couple of weeks, you've been, well… you've been pretty normal. And you've been happy, and it's like you're all the way here like you haven't been in years. I mean, look at yourself." She turned Molly towards the mirror. "You look healthy, and you look like I said, happy. You're practically glowing nowadays."

Molly looked at her reflection. She did, indeed, look happy. Her eyes sparkled with a life that hadn't been there before, her skin was a healthy pinkish, etc. She blinked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just stopped one day, and looked at the way I was, and decided I needed to get my act together."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Uh huh. And what's that, a gift from yourself?" She pointed at Molly's neck, where she'd been staring before. She didn't notice as Molly went pale for a sec as she glanced at her reflection, where Angel had been pointing. Resting there was a silver choker about an inch thick. Set into the center of the choker was a small dark gemstone, the color of which was indeterminable. Unseen by Angel, since the back of the choker was located under Molly's hair, was a keyhole on the back, located at where the choker would open.

Truthfully, the piece of jewelry looked more like a silver collar than a silver choker.

Molly offered her friend a weak smile. "You could say that. It's a type of reward for waking myself up, if you know what I mean. I don't have a boyfriend."

Angela rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You know you'll have to tell me sometime, you know."

Molly shook her head. "Whatever, Angela. Think what you want."

Later, outside, Molly walked around, her eyes moving over assorted students. Spotting someone on the steps, she smiled and moved down to sit behind the boy.

The boy; Michael Merrill. A nerdy kid who always thought he knew everything, but he actually had no common sense whatever. He always acted like a jerk, jumping to get anyone he could into trouble, stuff like that.

When Molly spoke, Michael jumped, startled. "Hey, Merrill, you know a lot of stuff, right?"

He looked at her like he would a piece of crap on his shoe. "Of course. You know that."

Molly looked troubled. "Well, there's something I found out about not long ago. And so, I was curious if you knew about it."

"Yeah?'

"There was this killer a couple of states away a couple of decades ago. The Springwood Slasher. Heard of him?"

Michael answered, obviously lying. "Yeah. But tell me what you know about him."

Molly bit her lip. "This story is pretty scary, I gotta warn you. First of all, he went around, killing kids. Young ones. No one could figure out who it was doing it. When they finally did catch him, though, everyone was surprised to find that he was who appeared to be a normal, everyday guy. Married, with a job, and even a little daughter of his own. How he'd been killing the kids was with this workman's glove he fashioned, a glove with a razor on each finger but not the thumb. His name… was Freddy Krueger."

"Yeah? What happened then? Not that I don't know, of course, I just wanna see if you have your facts straight."

"Alright. The thing was, when he got taken to court, he was able to get off scott-free because of some little technicality. The parents of other children in the neighborhood were outraged, so they tracked him down and cornered him in this old building, which they lit on fire after they trapped him inside. They burned him alive." She paused here, wringing her hands, looking spooked by the story she was telling.

"This is where it gets really creepy. They say that after he died, Freddy came back. Not in our world, but in the dreams of the children of his killers, who were now teenagers. He would stalk and then kill the teenagers in their dreams in the most horrific ways possible. He didn't stop there, though. He was stopped, a couple of times, but he kept coming back, and he kept killing more kids, always going after teenagers. The thing is, when Freddy kills you in your dreams, you die for real. They say that not only does he kill you, but he also takes in your soul, so that you become one of his children, so to speak. The thing is…" She dropped her voice to a whisper here, resisting the urge to smile at how white and creeped-out Michael looked at the story.

"They say that Freddy is still around, and that he's always on the look-out for more victims to add to his children."

Michael swallowed. "Yep. Looks like you got your facts straight. Look… I gotta go now."

As Michael wandered off, Molly let the smile she'd been holding back slip onto her face. It wasn't like that bright smile from before, though. This smile was… cruel.

She knew Michael. She knew that whenever he learned something knew, he loved to show off his knowledge, and go around telling many about what he knew. So she knew he would tell many about Freddy.

She reached up and fingered the jewelry piece at her throat, looking thoughtful as she headed home.

Brittany ran, scared. Her bare feet pounded against the metal grates as she ran.

Where was she? This was one weird nightmare. Earlier that day, that weirdo Michael Merrill had found her and completely crept her out with this story that he'd told her about some killer. Then her boyfriend and his buddies had come up and saved her from that god-awful nerd. Like she'd wanted to talk to him in the first place. Tch! Like, seriously, he was so below her.

And then after she'd gone to sleep later, she'd started dreaming about this place. Her dreams weren't usually this vivid, and it was really weird. And then these five weird wolf-like things had found her. Four of them were led by a slightly smaller reddish one with a silver collar on. They'd been chasing her for a few minutes now, and she'd been trying to lose them.

Suddenly, steam shot out a pipe ahead of her and she shrieked and covered her eyes as she dodged it to keep running;. Suddenly she ran into someone, and fell to the floor.

Opening her eyes, Brittany opened her eyes to see who she had run into, and made a face. "Molly? Why the hell would I be dreaming of a freak like you?"

Something flickered briefly in Sere's eyes, unnoticed to Brittany. She shrugged. "What I wanna know is why I'd be dreaming of you."

Brittany really took in the sight of Molly, then. The girl was dressed in a long white skirt that rode low on her hips, slits going all the way up on both sides. For a top, she wore a sleeveless white tube-top that showed off her belly, across which were four diagonal long thin pale scars that looked like they'd only healed recently. Like Brittany, she wore no shoes. For jewelry, she wore a silver anklet on each ankle and a silver bracelet on each wrist. Lastly, there rested on her throat this silver choker she'd noticed her wearing recently, one with a dark stone set into it.

Brittany shot Molly an odd look. "Why are you dressed so weird?"

Again, Sere shrugged. She swallowed. "Merrill told you about the Springwood Slasher, didn't he? Maybe it's true… maybe he's here, somewhere."

Brittany shook her head. "I'm not afraid of some crispy old dude. I'm more worried about those wolfy things I saw earlier." Her eyes widened as she remembered them. "Oh no! I forgot that they were after me when I ran into you!"

Just then, a growl sounded out a few feet behind her. Brittany turned to see four of the wolf things there, looking ready to attack. Their leader wasn't there, though, it seemed. She shrieked and ran past Molly, and was horrified to see that the walkway ended in a dead end.

Sobbing, she pointed at Molly. "Eat her! Eat her, she'll taste better!"

And she watched the things came up to Molly, who she was surprised to see didn't look afraid. They stood on either side of Molly, two on each side. Just then, Molly grinned at Brittany, showing strangely sharp teeth. "You shouldn't have always acted the way you did, Brittany. Something my friends here and I have found… popular bitches taste best."

And then her formed seemed to shift. A moment later, the leader wolf was before her, along with the pack, advancing slowly on her. Horrified, Brittany backed up, knowing she'd run into the railing at the end of the walkway any moment.

But she didn't. She ran into something else that was solid. She whirled to find… oh God! It was that killer that Merrill had told her about!

He leered at her. Then he looked past her. "What was it she said again, Sere?"

Sere stood there again in her human form. "She said she wasn't afraid of some crispy old dude."

Brittany gulped, her eyes tearing up. She was going to die.

The next morning, Molly woke up feeling better than she had in a long time. The night before, she'd been surprised that Freddy had had her deliver the final blow, not knowing why. She'd hesitated, at first, but hadn't wanted to make Freddy mad. When she'd killed Brittany, though… Oh, Goddess, that feeling. It was like nothing else, it was like immense amounts of chocolate and great sex rolled into one.

And then Freddy had given her something. It wasn't exactly her soul… it was kind of… kind of her essence. Something that would enhance stuff about Molly, in the areas of things that Brittany was good at.

It was very cool.

She and Freddy… that night, they had come to an arrangement. Actually, it was Freddy that had decided everything.

He'd had to work to get her, he wasn't going to just kill her. He would allow her to live a normal daytime life… but in the dream world, she was his. Since victims from his hometown had been scarce anymore, it was her job to bring in fresh meat for him, usually by letting people know about him.

The choker… the collar she wore, he'd put it on her. It was a mark of her enslavement to him, even in the physical world. Only he could unlock it and set her free, if he so chose.

She was… it was like she was his bitch, literally. His pet. Her pack members were still with her, for they were loyal to her. It was all very useful for Freddy.

And there were also some benefits. She gained certain… attributes from victims. For example, if he killed someone really smart, and gave her their essence, she would become more intelligent. That kind of thing. Sometimes she might even gain actual knowledge from an essence.

And then there was the protection. He'd agreed that so long as she kept bringing him fresh meat, then he would leave alone those that she asked him to. Such as her friend, Angela.

All in all, as hard as it could be to believe, she didn't mind the situation.

As hard as it was to admit to herself, she outright enjoyed it.

And, somewhere deep inside her, she shuddered at what she was becoming, hearing the words echoing in her mind what Jareh had once told her…

_"I may have a solution for you, then… but… it could be the greater of two evils, I'm not sure."_

On this path, what was she to become?

FIN

**QS: I can't believe that it's over. I hope this wasn't a disappointing ending for you guys. My goal when I was writing this story was to make one of the best NOES stories out there. Not the absolute best, but just one of the best. Did I succeed?**

**I'm proud of this story. Very proud. But I tell you now, I WILL NOT MAKE A SEQUEL. This is where I intend it to be finished. However, if any of you out there wish to make a story with Sere in it, then I wouldn't mind, so long as you seek my permission first and give me credit. K? K.**


End file.
